TravelDaily from 17DEC12 suggests China Eastern is keen to expand its Australian presence.

Quote:MU wants more Aust ports

CHINA Eastern Airlines is the latest carrier to set its sights on Australia, with the rapidly growing airline wanting to boost its current offering of nine weekly services ex Sydney, daily flights ex MEL and three weekly ex CNS.

MU gm Oceania, Kathy Zhang, told TD the airline wants to add more Australian cities to its network as it continues to expand worldwide.

“Stay tuned,” she said.

Article continues...

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Anyone keen to make their 2013 predictions regarding the Australian Aviation industry?

Quoting QF175 (Reply 1):Anyone keen to make their 2013 predictions regarding the Australian Aviation industry?

a few things (MEL related):

Terminals/Airfield/Ground Transport/Planning related:

- The full plans for T3+T4 expansion will be released in the first quarter (I've eye-balled a few renders of the new LCC terminal (T4) where Tiger currently sits already) and construction will start this year - probably a 2 year timeframe for completion.
- Failleu Government's Tulla rail link study will be presented to the government at some point in the year, my tip: Rail link 10 year timeframe, "Albion" corridor option [given that all the airport masterplans are getting more and more detail of how a rail line will approach the terminals] preferred (just like previous studies!).
- Possibly some more whinging from the taxi and road lobbies to get the Airport Drive / 2nd access point (to compliment Tulla FWY access) coming from the Calder FWY off the ground.
- AVV rail link study will also be presented to Failleu, they'll sing its praises and then suddenly find that they dont want to spend the couple of hundred mil on an airport that's getting a mere fraction of the passengers the primary airport gets up the road.
- More noise from Linfox on AVV international terminals (good luck to them..................[crickets]........)
- The NIMBY/Greenie movement will mobilise on longshot Tooradin / 3rd airport for Melbourne.

Asia:
- Royal Brunei could cease given they have ceased elsewhere in AU
- More noise from Skymark about NRT/HND-MEL services.
- KE back on seasonal basis
- Full de-linking of the 3rd flight via ADL on CX, (already talked about) - likely to have happen this year or next

NZ:
- probably more related to WLG management itself, but now that Tiger is majority owned by VA (new terms on its AOC?), might see some Tiger flights in and out of WLG to east coast ports (MEL likely starter given the base is here).
- more ZQN frequencies ex MEL.
- one of QF's 3x daily 738 flights on MEL-AKL to be dropped and capacity picked up by EK's 380 flying across the ditch - (similar changes ex BNE and SYD).

Domestic:
- more and more Tiger expansion (or re-expansion? hah),
-- NT: DRW and ASP might come back, would be nice to get one or two weekly frequencies in to AYQ (no non-stops at present)
-- QLD: possibly start TSV (have they flown MEL-TSV before?), HTI (a few a week, JQ 5x week only competition at the moment), possible shift from VA to TT on MCY (and maybe more than the current daily VA frequency, or VA kept on route and Tiger does a few frequencies on top).
-- SA: ramping right back up to pre-grounding frequencies to ADL (currently 2x daily, move toward 4-5x daily)
-- NSW/ACT: like SA / ASA)">DL, ramping frequencies to SYD up to pre-grounding frequencies, possibly restart CBR.
-- WA: a 3rd daily frequency to PER
-- TAS: frequencies increases to HBA and LST
- Qantas mainline:
-- more frequencies non-stop to non-PER ports in WA.
-- shift another JQ frequency to QF on HBA (they've been doing that over 1-2 years now IIRC)
- VA mainline:
-- taking it to QF on MEL-non PERWA ports? BME, KTA possibly?
- JQ:
-- all that needs to be said is that they'll probably make themselves the biggest pain in the arse for any TT expansion as possible.

Quoting tayser (Reply 3):Asia:
- Royal Brunei could cease given they have ceased elsewhere in AU

At this stage- doubtful. MEL exists purely to feed LHR- without MEL the BWN-DXB-LHR flight would be empty. There was a rumour to restart PER-BWN, but nothing came of it. Similarly, BNE-BWN was much more successful than MEL-BWN, but the decision to keep MEL was completely politically motivated. MEL pax loads are now decent, but the yield so bad the flight breaks even at best purely with help from the cargo revenue.

I just noticed on BNE-CNS that QF(Link) flies a once weekly B712 on Saturday afternoon (and return CNS-BNE on Sunday morning), but interestingly that the flight only has a scheduled flight time of 2 hr exactly (compared to 2 hr 20 min for the B73H). Is the B712 really that much of a pocket rocket?

Having previously promised that an A380-capable gate at PER would be available early next year, to then saying in July that it would be ready "within twelve months", it has now been conceded that the gate will not be available until November next year. So much for expediting things.

Understandably EK is reported to be not all too pleased as they have been forced to set back the hoped-for introduction of the A380 by at least five months. I wonder how much the delay will impact on the tie-up between QF and EK as it was to be expected that QF would be selling seats on EK, hence the initial promise to bring forward the opening of the A380-capable gate.

Quoting IndianicWorld (Reply 7):Umm... If BNE was so successful it would have been kept. There was no political reason for MEL to be served instead of BNE.

100% incorrect. However, your comments are 100% logical though. Again, it was completely political. MEL was supposed to be cancelled 3 months after AKL/BNE/PER but it became VERY political (Bruneian political, not Australian). FYI BNE-BWN was the highest revenue generating route in the network. I know more but unable to post in a public forum.

Quoting eta unknown (Reply 8):100% incorrect. However, your comments are 100% logical though. Again, it was completely political. MEL was supposed to be cancelled 3 months after AKL/BNE/PER but it became VERY political (Bruneian political, not Australian). FYI BNE-BWN was the highest revenue generating route in the network. I know more but unable to post in a public forum.

My point is, if BNE was the best performing route, as you indicate, why would they not have kept it and canceled all others? It doesn't add up.

Knowing more is all well and good, but fact is it still exists that they have not moved the flights from MEL to BNE when they very well could do so. They need the feed, and if BNE would give them the best results, it would be flying there.

Quoting IndianicWorld (Reply 9):My point is, if BNE was the best performing route, as you indicate, why would they not have kept it and canceled all others? It doesn't add up.

Knowing more is all well and good, but fact is it still exists that they have not moved the flights from MEL to BNE when they very well could do so. They need the feed, and if BNE would give them the best results, it would be flying there.

Your point is valid. But we're dealing with Bruneian logic (including loss of face for suspending a newly started route), and a certain amount of pride, hence why it doesn't add up. FYI all longhaul flying and MNL was supposed to be suspended.
There is a chance some suspended routes may be brought back if the 5th 787 arrives (there are 5 on order, but RBA might only take 4). All longhaul flying is now operated with 4 leased 777-200's.

Ok, I'm giving the opportunity to name 1 worse than PER I can't think of any at this point unless your referring to MEL but at least they have gone ahead and invested (even though its all patchup work)

My view on the gate situation is the fact the airport management had a clear indication EK would operate the A380 to PER & instead decided to sit around on their rear ends...

At this stage- doubtful. MEL exists purely to feed LHR- without MEL the BWN-DXB-LHR flight would be empty. There was a rumour to restart PER-BWN, but nothing came of it. Similarly, BNE-BWN was much more successful than MEL-BWN, but the decision to keep MEL was completely politically motivated. MEL pax loads are now decent, but the yield so bad the flight breaks even at best purely with help from the cargo revenue.

I am in the international freight caper and we use BI for our air freight service LHR-MEL. Average service, But the price is right

Quoting tayser (Reply 3):- one of QF's 3x daily 738 flights on MEL-AKL to be dropped and capacity picked up by EK's 380 flying across the ditch - (similar changes ex BNE and SYD).

I doubt the ACCC would look on this very favourably. One of the approval conditions for the QF/EK codeshare arrangement was that there be no lessening of capacity or competition on trans-Tasman services.

I doubt the ACCC would look on this very favourably. One of the approval conditions for the QF/EK codeshare arrangement was that there be no lessening of capacity or competition on trans-Tasman services.

This was one of my original arguments when there was a quote suggesting EK drop an A380 service & in favour of operating a turn around service to DXB instead... The ACCC end of the day will make the final decision & either give the alliance a green light...or bring it back to the negotiating table...

Question for the more technical minded, I flew in on QF2 this morning and when I was in SIN I noticed a QF 744 which had a wingtip winglet missing. I got the rego when we landed in Sydney, VH-OJI, which operated QF6 from Frankfurt. Surely having a winglet on 1 side, and none on the other, would create some compensatory issues for the pilots? It's obviously not a safety issue but the aircraft looked funny in SIN taking off with 1 winglet missing. Surely QF aren't that short of 744's yet?

I probably won't be able answer the technical side but I can shed some light on how VH-OJI ended up with one winglet...

A Qantas Airways Boeing 747 lands at Kingsford Smith International Airport in Australia from Frankfurt via Singapore as QF6.
This bird damaged it's winglet on pushback in Johannesburg after colliding with a blast fence. Subsequently VH-OJI went on to fly to Frankfurt and back, then to Johannesburg with only one winglet.
It is a very rare sight to see a 747-400 with only one winglet, it has happened a few times in the past however.

Virgin Australia will be transitioning to a new Sabre booking and check-in system on Saturday 12 January and Sunday 13 January 2013 in order to enhance the travel experience for our customers.

To support this transition, the Velocity Frequent Flyer website (My Account) will be offline from 10.30pm AEDT on Wednesday 9 January to Sunday 13 January 2013. If you plan to make a booking or redeem Points during this time, we encourage you to do so prior to the My Account area of our website being unavailable, as some of our usual member services will not be available, including:

Quoting Rotation (Reply 26):That said, it's a long time, I think, to have the Velocity stuff down.

I do think they are trying not to rush it too much, thinking that the steadier they do it, the better the result will be. They don't want a system crash, which happened with the old system a bit too often.

Things like staff travel and duty travel have been reduced in this period as well, even work rosters for some have been locked down for the coming weekend in order to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible.

Quoting EK413 (Reply 23):A Qantas Airways Boeing 747 lands at Kingsford Smith International Airport in Australia from Frankfurt via Singapore as QF6.
This bird damaged it's winglet on pushback in Johannesburg after colliding with a blast fence. Subsequently VH-OJI went on to fly to Frankfurt and back, then to Johannesburg with only one winglet.
It is a very rare sight to see a 747-400 with only one winglet, it has happened a few times in the past however.

That video was uploaded on Dec 27th. I saw it January 4th. Surely they aren't so short of 744's that they could have fixed a winglet by now?

I'm aware the video clip was uploaded 27th of December.... I believe QF are short of B744s considering they have been operating double daily SYD-BKK services opposed to upgrading the flight to a B744...

Quoting EK413 (Reply 21):This was one of my original arguments when there was a quote suggesting EK drop an A380 service & in favour of operating a turn around service to DXB instead

The issue here would be matching capacity and the DXB waves. It just doesn't quite fit together properly and would mean long periods sat on the ground at SYD anyway.

Quoting EK413 (Reply 30):I believe QF are short of B744s considering they have been operating double daily SYD-BKK services opposed to upgrading the flight to a B744

I'm inclined to say that the BKK example has more to do with crewing issues (ie no flight crew cross qualification across the 747s and A330s) than a shortage of 744s. Given that OJD has been floating around doing random MEL-PER, SYD-DRW etc rotations for the last six weeks, I think it's probably just not a big enough issue to call engineers in for their holidays (at high overtime rates), or they are awaiting spare parts (it's not exactly a high volume item) and things are taking time because of the time of year.

Quoting qf002 (Reply 32):The issue here would be matching capacity and the DXB waves. It just doesn't quite fit together properly and would mean long periods sat on the ground at SYD anyway.

With current operations EK have services timed with 3 banks (correct me if I'm wrong)...

Quoting qf002 (Reply 32):I'm inclined to say that the BKK example has more to do with crewing issues (ie no flight crew cross qualification across the 747s and A330s) than a shortage of 744s. Given that OJD has been floating around doing random MEL-PER, SYD-DRW etc rotations for the last six weeks, I think it's probably just not a big enough issue to call engineers in for their holidays (at high overtime rates), or they are awaiting spare parts (it's not exactly a high volume item) and things are taking time because of the time of year.

So is it safe to say the double daily BKK services are a direct result of crewing issues & not lack of aircraft...? I haven't seen VH-OJD for a while & I've noticed an -400ER type will be operating QF567 SYD-PER on the 25th of January...

EKs current pattern connects with 2 waves. EK 415 connects well with the mid afternoon wave, 413 and 419 connect with the morning wave. (They arrive 45 minutes apart)
Its a shame they don't operate a a terminator flight that allows connections to the midnight bank for early morning arrivals. I guess QF will cover that option for them come march.

Quoting Ben175 (Reply 37):A huge relief. It would be a shame for PER to lose its only service to mainland China. I did expect a change in schedule however.

Or change of aircraft. A333 was a bit ambitious I thought they would have use the A332 instead. Hopefully PER will also be a prime 787 route.

The timings are bad for connections onto Europe which they seem to promote themselves heavily on. I have had friends who have spent many hours at CAN in transit. Not sure how conections are for flights to LAX but CZ seem to also promote themselves.

Quoting DJMEL (Reply 39):From Sunday afternoon the DJ flight code will pass into history!!!Virgin Australia will officially use VA for all flights!!!SabreSonic SHOULD be up and running sometime Sunday afternoon - Good Bye Navitaire and Amadeus!

Is this also why I have been hearing the call sign VELOCITY on ATC instead of VIRGIN?

The fact it took them so long to decide on what they were going to do tends to suggest it has not gone to plan so far.

Even at only 3X weekly, the PER/WA market will need to continue to develop its offering to Chinese tourists if they want this route to work. The market is very different to the East Coast destinations CZ service (MEL/SYD/BNE), which tend to have more of a diverse travel base to work from to China, and as such will be interesting to see what moves they make in the upcoming period.

It's just amazing how my comments on another forum received criticism suggesting QF time the SYD-LAX/DFW flights to meet up with EK services allowing passengers to connect to DXB services giving a choice to fly both East bound and West bound... Now Mr Clark has the exact same idea up his sleeve! Straight from the horses mouth...

“If the timing is right and the two aircraft meet, with Qantas and Emirates you could go around the world with A380s,” he said yesterday. “I’m sure we could do trans-Pacific business on Qantas metal as part of this overall deal.”

Quoting EK413 (Reply 42):suggesting QF time the SYD-LAX/DFW flights to meet up with EK services allowing passengers to connect to DXB services giving a choice to fly both East bound and West bound

I think that makes perfect sense and I, personally, thought the daytime LAX-SYD service was a fantastic service to travel on. (Midday departure at LAX and evening arrival into SYD). Considering the amount of O&D between Australia and the West Coast of the US, plus immediate States, Mexico etc where it's feasible to make a connection to an earlier service, re-timing one of the SYD-LAX flights to return earlier could make sense if QF also agreed to the round the world service. For DFW I'd stick with the evening departure/morning arrival into Australia schedule until they were ready to add additional services.

China Eastern eager to push Qantas tie-up talks
Eager to increase flights and add new destinations to Australia, Qantas Airways Ltd's partner in China, China Eastern, is pushing for progress in longstanding negotiations between the two airlines on forging a deeper commercial relationship, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Just saw EK A380 A6-EDN come over my home (I live in Berwick) on its way from AKL into MEL. Quite a usual occurrence actually, but I am continually amazed at the quietness of this ac in flight. If I had not been monitoring dataflight24.com I would not have known it was there, very different from the A320's, 738's and Dash 8's that fly over on a daily basis. A very remarkable ac indeed.

Jetstar passengers stuck in Honolulu will travel now as JQ1002 departing 7.30pm local time arriving into YMML 4.30am Tuesday morning. Passengers weren't trapped as reported in the herald sun but were stuck on the taxi way while they troubleshooted the issue.

Friends on the plane said accommodation was organised quickly by Jetstar

Virgin Australia has completed it's transition from Navitaire to Sabre. However their website seems to be a bit unstable at the moment. I get white screens trying to access my PNR's, logging into Velocity and even attempting a booking. They have also changed their fare types:

Saver Lite is a new fare which doesn't include checked baggage, nor will it be possible to purchase checked baggage allowance.

Saver now includes 1x 23kg checked bag with the option to purchase allowance for an additional bags online. Food and Beverages is still buy on board.

Flexi remains the same with 1x 23kg checked bag no change fees, refundable with a fee and complimentry food/beverages.

Business Saver is a new discounted Business class fare with 2x 32kg checked bag allowance, no change fees, priority check in/boarding and lounge access however it is non refundable.

Business is the same as the Business Saver fare however it is fully refundable.

Pre-Assigned seating is now available on all fares at the time of booking.

I must admit I'm not to keen on the checked baggage restrictions on the Saver Lite fare it seems to defy their efforts of the last couple of years to rebrand their image as a more upmarket airline. It reminds me of the old Go fares which weren't changeable.

Quoting vhqpa (Reply 54):I must admit I'm not to keen on the checked baggage restrictions on the Saver Lite fare it seems to defy their efforts of the last couple of years to rebrand their image as a more upmarket airline. It reminds me of the old Go fares which weren't changeable.

You can upgrade from Saver lite to Saver at any time. This essentially is purchasing luggage at a later date. However, one cannot purchase additional luggage with a saver fare, if that fare was upgraded from a saver lite (so when you purchase saver lite, you can only upgrade to one bag per passenger, not any more).

However, the bigger change with the fare classes is that it is now the same across domestic, international short-haul and international long-haul, with the exception being that 'saver lite' is only available for domestic (and possibly international short-haul [can't remember quite]).

Quoting calvo747 (Reply 53):Jetstar passengers stuck in Honolulu will travel now as JQ1002 departing 7.30pm local time arriving into YMML 4.30am Tuesday morning. Passengers weren't trapped as reported in the herald sun but were stuck on the taxi way while they troubleshooted the issue.

Friends on the plane said accommodation was organised quickly by Jetstar

By looks of it big brother QF have come to the rescue yet again operating a ferry / charter flight QF6403 last night to pickup the stranded passengers...

I noticed from May onwards pretty much all A330 SYD-PER and MEL-PER flights will be operated by the 5 domestic A332s... Possibly freeing up currently used intl A330s to perhaps achieve the speculated intl service increases?

Quoting EK413 (Reply 18):Ok, I'm giving the opportunity to name 1 worse than PER

I said INFRASTRUCTURE, not "airport"...

In the context of "infrastructure project", that suggests to me that it includes rail, roads etc. Anything [attempted to be] built by NSW Government in the past decade, for example, would make WAC look highly competent.

Quoting Rotation (Reply 26):That said, it's a long time, I think, to have the Velocity stuff down.

Quoting CXfirst (Reply 27):I do think they are trying not to rush it too much, thinking that the steadier they do it, the better the result will be

Having personally witnessed the horros of the United cross over last March, I think that VA were very smart to keep things slow.

Quoting qf002 (Reply 32):OJD has been floating around doing random MEL-PER, SYD-DRW etc rotations for the last six weeks

I thought OJD was a 2-class, non-Y+ bird and therefore only used on domestic flights?

My bad, I miss interpreted it, I meant to say airport & not infrastructure in my original post...

Moving on, ACCC has granted interim authorization for the QF/EK Alliance... The green light will allow both carriers to coordinate around pricing, sales and capacity...
Both carriers can commence marketing and selling on each others networks which is to commence 31 March 2013 with exception of services to & from New Zealand where regulatory approvals are still pending...

Quoting RyanairGuru (Reply 62):I thought OJD was a 2-class, non-Y+ bird and therefore only used on domestic flights?

Generally yes, but she's done quite a bit of random international work over the summer (including NRT, JNB, SIN-FRA). I imagine she's quite useful over the summer when premium traffic is down -- W pax can be seated in J with W service and they can fit an extra 100 Y pax.

There are currently 2 route cases involving codeshare capacity to Italy and, frankly, QF and VA are in, for want of a better word, a pissing contest about allocation of the capacity. Currently QF holds 1,000 seats per week of codeshare capacity which it uses with Cathay Pacific and this represents all of the available capacity short of running your own flights. There are two lots up for grabs;

Lot 1 - QF's authorisation on 600 seats is coming up to expire and QF have applied for a renewal. Virgin has applied for half of this capacity to be allocated to them in order to codeshare on Singapore Airlines and Etihad services to Italy. What makes this interesting is that usually these are simply renewed in favour of the incumbent but Virgin has been making a concerted push, as all of the correspondence on the website demonstrates, to persuade the Commission to give them some. What's interesting is that the initial applicaitons for renewal were made in September and, as of today, there is still not a final decision from the Commission. Even in all of the hard fought Indonesia Route Cases in the past the IASC has made capacity orders quicker than they have in this case which probably means that whichever side loses you will see some sort of legal action.

Lot 2 - QF has applied to transfer 400 seats of codeshare capacity from Cathay Pacific codeshare to Emirates codeshare. Bear in mind that the actual authority relating to the 400 seats is not up for renewal or expiring, QF are just applying for a variation. What's interesting is that in this case, rather than using the argument that the Italy route is in start up mode, VA are using an argument that between Emirates and Qantas they will control just over 50% of the Australia - Italy market. It'll be interesting to see how this argument washes with the IASC and whether or not the IASC asks for input fom the ACCC given the ACCC's interim decision on the QF/EK alliance.

Certainly it represents an enhancement of the hostilities by VA against QF in relation to the QF/EK deal which is to be expected. (Even if I do find it hypocritical given VA's deals with EY and SQ)

I'll be particularly interested to see what happens if QF loses part of its capacity to VA. The only way to make it back up would be for QF to start flying again to Italy on its own right and for EK to codeshare on the QF service. (The reverse of what is currently proposed to Europe) It would certainly make life more interesting for QF/EK!

Quoting sydscott (Reply 66):Lot 1 - QF's authorisation on 600 seats is coming up to expire and QF have applied for a renewal. Virgin has applied for half of this capacity to be allocated to them in order to codeshare on Singapore Airlines and Etihad services to Italy.

Just wanna wrap my head around it, QF have 1000 seats & of the 1000 seats 600 are up for grabs...?

Quoting sydscott (Reply 66):Lot 2 - QF has applied to transfer 400 seats of codeshare capacity from Cathay Pacific codeshare to Emirates codeshare. Bear in mind that the actual authority relating to the 400 seats is not up for renewal or expiring, QF are just applying for a variation

Im guessing this answers my question... So QF have 400 seats which are definitely theirs and they can simply shuffle the allocation as they please pending authorization from IASC...?

Quoting sydscott (Reply 66):Certainly it represents an enhancement of the hostilities by VA against QF in relation to the QF/EK deal which is to be expected. (Even if I do find it hypocritical given VA's deals with EY and SQ)

Very well said...

Quoting sydscott (Reply 66):I'll be particularly interested to see what happens if QF loses part of its capacity to VA. The
only way to make it back up would be for QF to start flying again to Italy on its own right and for EK to codeshare on the QF service. (The reverse of what is currently proposed to Europe) It would certainly make life more interesting for QF/EK!

So in a nutshell if by any case QF loses part of the capacity they can easily claim the seats back by operating the route with their own aircraft (B787)...? therefore VA have no argument unless they decide to operate the route too...

Quoting EK413 (Reply 67):Just wanna wrap my head around it, QF have 1000 seats & of the 1000 seats 600 are up for grabs...?

Correct.

Quoting EK413 (Reply 67):Im guessing this answers my question... So QF have 400 seats which are definitely theirs and they can simply shuffle the allocation as they please pending authorization from IASC...?

Again correct. Normally this would go through without a hitch but VA is determined to argue the point.

Quoting EK413 (Reply 67):So in a nutshell if by any case QF loses part of the capacity they can easily claim the seats back by operating the route with their own aircraft (B787)...? therefore VA have no argument unless they decide to operate the route too...

Again correct. The 1,000 relate to codeshares only and QF has held the bulk of them since they discontinued service to Italy. The only other airline to hold part of them was Ansett International which was going to use them for a SQ codeshare but didn't get around to it before they went bust. The register of available capacity shows 7 unused frequencies available for any aircraft type without restriction except for supersonic aircraft. So again, if VA lost they could always start the route themselves. In fact I don't know why they don't. EY only flies to Milan daily, not to Rome and is constrained by the UAE/Italy bilateral, (as is Emirates by the way), from expanding any further. With only 7 frequencies and no real intention of the Italian Government to expand available capacity if I was Virgin or QF I'd jump all over it and use it, over the Middle East, to bolster their position. Surely with their respective Partner networks they could make it profitable.............

Quoting sydscott (Reply 68): With only 7 frequencies and no real intention of the Italian Government to expand available capacity if I was Virgin or QF I'd jump all over it and use it, over the Middle East, to bolster their position. Surely with their respective Partner networks they could make it profitable.............

Oh, for an A330 or two based at DXB and flying to a couple of European cities two or three times a week.

Quoting mariner (Reply 69):Oh, for an A330 or two based at DXB and flying to a couple of European cities two or three times a week.

BUT - I'm not holding my breath.

mariner

It would actually be an interesting way for QF to base a couple of A332's in DXB. If they did this they would be able to serve;

Paris CDG - 6 times per week under the Australian bilateral;
Rome/Milan - a total of 7 services per week depending on EK requirements;
Berlin/Frankfurt/Germany in general - 25 times per week.

Considering EK is constrained under the UAE/German bilateral it would be interesting to see QF add Berlin on their behalf along with other destinations.

VA could also try the same thing with EY as well. Certainly a way to help a bilateral constrained strategic partner expand their services in Europe and in EY's case it would be interesting to see VA and AB hookup.

Quoting sydscott (Reply 70):Considering EK is constrained under the UAE/German bilateral it would be interesting to see QF add Berlin on their behalf along with other destinations.

The Australia -Germany Bilateral provides access to FRA only, unless there is a recent amendment in force.

Quote:II. Route to be operated by an airline designated by the Commonwealth of Australia:

From Australia, via points in Indonesia, Singapore or Malaya, Thailand, Burma or Ceylon, India, Pakistan, Middle East, South and South-East Europe to Frankfurt/M. and beyond to the Netherlands and/or to the United Kingdom, in both directions.

I have tried an online search for an amendment but without success. But I do recall there being discussion of QF ending its flights to FRA from October, leaving passengers to either back-track from LHR or use codeshare flights on EK.

Quoting thegeek (Reply 71):That's only 1pw short of the daily service that they crave. Is the bilateral in "seats" terms rather than flights, so using an A332 allows more frequencies?

Kind of -- smaller aircraft count less towards the capacity allowan than larger ones. Difficult to explain, you should be able to figure it out scrolling down to France on the IASC Register of Available Capacity (which can be found here).

Don't think so -- the last supplements were in 1996 and 1998 apparently. There was a lot of discussion here about how Germany might respond if EK tried to use QF to gain more German capacity, perhaps that's what you're thinking of?

Quoting thegeek (Reply 71):That's only 1pw short of the daily service that they crave. Is the bilateral in "seats" terms rather than flights, so using an A332 allows more frequencies?

Yeah it's a calculation based on the number of seats on an aircraft. With only 3 frequencies available an A332 in QF International config takes up .5 of a frequency per week hence they could do 6 per week.

Then reverse it and EK could do the BER part and QF could do the FRA part. Either way it works. The IASC register of available capacity doesn't state restrictions on cities able to be served in Germany.

Quoting qf002 (Reply 76):Don't think so -- the last supplements were in 1996 and 1998 apparently. There was a lot of discussion here about how Germany might respond if EK tried to use QF to gain more German capacity, perhaps that's what you're thinking of?

I'm not 100% certain, I know the discussion revolved around the German routes & was just prior to the Alliance announcement...

Quoting a36001 (Reply 77):
Does anyone know what the internal thoughts at JQ and QF would be regarding the problems the 787 is having? Not impressed - expected - not surprised - Oh what's next?

From what I've read and heard QF management are very confident in the B787 & looking forward to receiving the 1st aircraft this year...

Quoting QF175 (Reply 80):- Additional five 717-200s, delivery commencing second half of this year
- Additional three Q400s (74 seats), delivery commencing second half of this year

Perhaps the aircraft will be sourced from an American carrier...? Air Tran..?

Quoting EK413 (Reply 83):Perhaps the aircraft will be sourced from an American carrier...? Air Tran..?

They're leasing rather than acquiring them so I presume the aircraft are already owned by a leasing company somewhere. Are the ones coming out of AirTran all going to Delta or are some being returned to their lessor?

It would appear at this time MEL is going to see 2 EK A380 tonight, currently EK 407 on approach from AKL, and EK 413, normally AKL - SYD - DXB is heading for MEL over the Alpine National Park and is currently losing height, and not travelling real fast, so I suspect a divert to MEL.

Quoting TN486 (Reply 86):
It would appear at this time MEL is going to see 2 EK A380 tonight, currently EK 407 on approach from AKL, and EK 413, normally AKL - SYD - DXB is heading for MEL over the Alpine National Park and is currently losing height, and not travelling real fast, so I suspect a divert to MEL.

Wonder why? First thought was heat, but that would have died down significantly by departure time.

It looks like a planned diversion, as the route takes it straight to MEL, rather than turn around and land in SYD.

Quoting TN486 (Reply 86):
It would appear at this time MEL is going to see 2 EK A380 tonight, currently EK 407 on approach from AKL, and EK 413, normally AKL - SYD - DXB is heading for MEL over the Alpine National Park and is currently losing height, and not travelling real fast, so I suspect a divert to MEL.

Quoting CXfirst (Reply 87):Wonder why? First thought was heat, but that would have died down significantly by departure time.

It looks like a planned diversion, as the route takes it straight to MEL, rather than turn around and land in SYD.

Quoting ZKOKQ (Reply 88):Maybe MEL was planned before departure? Very weird. If it was heat why not go BNE? Wouldnt that work better?

There was a strong Southerly wind change at SYD late this evening, There were a few QF flights that did an air turnback and one reroute tonight due to the poor weather (AKLSYD diverted to CBR, OOLSYD returned to OOL, BNESYD returned to BNE and MELSYD returned to MEL).

Quoting CXfirst (Reply 87):Wonder why? First thought was heat, but that would have died down significantly by departure time.

Probably to do with the severe weather warning that was in place this evening as the cold front came through. It didn't end up being particularly bad, but there were definitely some dangerous conditions for half an hour or so (strong northerly wind, rain coming down horizontally etc).

Quoting ZuluAlpha (Reply 89):There was a strong Southerly wind change at SYD late this evening

Quoting qf002 (Reply 90):Probably to do with the severe weather warning that was in place this evening as the cold front came through. It didn't end up being particularly bad, but there were definitely some dangerous conditions for half an hour or so (strong northerly wind, rain coming down horizontally etc).

Had a look at the historical on flightradar24.com, EK413 attempted an approach from the North, aborted that, went to base leg for a 2nd approach from the north, then gave up and skipped to MEL.

Quoting TN486 (Reply 91):Had a look at the historical on flightradar24.com, EK413 attempted an approach from the North, aborted that, went to base leg for a 2nd approach from the north, then gave up and skipped to MEL.

Ah, ok. I didn't realize it was the flight coming in from AKL that wasn't able to land. I thought it had departed SYD for DXB and for some reason diverted to MEL.

New aussie here, hope to be fairly active in this thread, amongst others!

Anyone had any experience with booking through Virgin's new Sabre system?

I had to feel my way around it a little the other day, particularly with the baggage add-ons.
As a point of interest, the saver-light fare doesn't allow for online baggage purchase at all, which is curious.

I would have thought they'd try and minimise the confusion, not maximise it!

Quoting ZuluAlpha (Reply 95): They were hoping for for a splash and dash .. to try and make SYD before curfew. I do admit I am not sure of the end result, if it made it

Looks like this flight confused flightware - shows them landing at SYD then taking off for CBR, but it seems that they did actually make it back in spite of these errors. I guess if they didn't make the curfew they could then go to MEL or BNE.

Quoting EK413 (Reply 104):Not much can be done considering QF lost another ground handling contract... From a business perspective makes sense for NZ to switch to an agent which hanles it's interline partner VA/SQ...

Ah but was it intentionally lost in order to shred staff? The same thing happened a few years ago- QF management purposely submitted bids that were so out of the ballpark they "lost" a bunch of ground handling contracts. Then QF turned around to the unions and said they had to shed jobs because there was now no work for these staff. It only became public knowledge after PAL leaked it to the Sydney Morning Herald as to why they had to find a new contractor as their new QF rates were about 200% increased.

I heard the QFNZ contarct was a month-to-month arrangement with a 30 day notice clause and NZ switched to Menzies.

Was playing around with Virgins new Sabre system earlier today. It is not much different, but there are a few small things that could do with some refining, mainly graphically. It's great that you can now make a seat pre-selection at booking. For no charge too. Unlike Jetstar and Tiger.

I am planning on spending a day flying a Mel-Syd-Cbr-Mel triangle as I have yet to fly Virgin Australia. (Flew the old Virgin Blue several time's) The reason I chose that routing was because I will get to fly 2 new aircraft types in the ATR and E-190, as well as the good old 737. The only thing I'm not sure on is what would be the best minimum time between flights in Sydney? The flights I am considering have 2 hours and 10 minutes between them. I would have checked in online before leaving home, so there should be no reason to leave the secure area.

Now that all the QF/EK flight options have been loaded I cant help but notice that you cant book any QF metal flights from BNE, PER, and ADL to LHR/Europe only EK options are displayed.. I thought they would still offer via SIN connecting onto BA, or even domestic connections to the QF flights from SYD/MEL.

If this is the case I don't see how QF is gonna keep flights to SIN with no connections at all...

EK407 had a problem after take off yesterday, the pilot deeming the aircraft "unsafe", the aircraft circled around MEL, dumping fuel before landing safety back at MEL. No one onboard was harmed in anyway.... Possible due to the MEL airturn back...?

Quoting vhebb (Reply 111):I don't see how QF is gonna keep flights to SIN with no connections at all...

I believe they are selling connections to Jetstar Asia flights. A flawed model if you ask me, as there are much higher quality options, and if your flying to SIN with a full service carrier your not going to appreciate your connection been onto the JQ product.

Quoting vhebb (Reply 111):I thought they would still offer via SIN connecting onto BA, or even domestic connections to the QF flights from SYD/MEL.

The codeshares still exist, but you probably can't access them unless you're booking a multi stop itinerary and want to stopover in Asia for a few days.

Quoting vhebb (Reply 111):If this is the case I don't see how QF is gonna keep flights to SIN with no connections at all...

The whole idea behind retiming their flights to SIN is to make better use of regional connections, which have been very difficult with the existing late night arrivals which were geared towards morning arrivals in Europe.

So they will lose a big chunk of traffic connecting through to LHR but will hopefully open themselves up to a lot of traffic connecting across Asia instead. That said, I find it hard to believe that 3K is really a viable way to carry that connecting traffic, but QF is so conservative these days that they rarely make major missteps.

They've spoken publicly about CX/KA so I would expect the longer term focus to be at HKG. It's a more premium destination for them, and is far better placed geographically to access the areas where QF struggles (ie China and North Asia). India will be better served nonstop in the future, but isn't of such urgent concern.

I agree...shame they got rid of the BA/SIN option......i would much rather this over the awful transit in DXB. Especially as BA are introducing the 77W on the route....
The EK 777s are fine DXB-Europe..but 10 abreat DXB-Oz, no thanks. Fine if you live in SYD/MEL and can fly QF all the way but BNE/ADL/PER I actually would prefer the QF 330s to EK777s.
Living in DRW i see the new route to LHR is via SYD/MEL.....great! Luckly i've already booked a trip this year routing via SIN on JQ/BA....at least its much more direct, nice transit and get the BA 77W.

Quoting sydscott (Reply 107):I think the real question is whether or not it is profitable for QF to do it and does it make a commercial return. If not, ditch it and join the outsourcers like CX, NZ and others have.

Quoting eta unknown (Reply 106):Ah but was it intentionally lost in order to shred staff? The same thing happened a few years ago- QF management purposely submitted bids that were so out of the ballpark they "lost" a bunch of ground handling contracts.

I think this move will be generally well received by QF ground crew. I do not believe that a package has been offered to them in a while, cabin crew have been offered a few over the years but only one or two for ground staff. I know a number of older staff have been busting for a package. Those staff that aren't ready to retire will be happy to take a nice big package, retain full staff travel and move across to TDAS for a bit less money and the chance of quicker career progression. I also believe this means TollDnata takes over Menzies as the largest ground handling agency in Australia.

As a perthian QR will get the nod for me on flighs to Europe. 9 abreast in their 777's versus 10 for Ek certainly can make it a bit more comfortable in cattle. Amazing what a bit of marketing can do for EK I can't think of anything world class about being crammed 10 abreast Perth-Europe in y on one of their 777's when their competition do it with 9 for the same price

Although EK with 3 daily and SQ 4 dailys from Perth they have the upper hand for frequency.

Japan Airlines is continuing to ponder a return to Brisbane as airport officials insisted demand remains for the reintroduction of direct services to Tokyo.

The carrier withdrew from Queensland in late 2010 after more than two decades of services. The suspension was part of a wider restructure at JAL which saw it withdraw from 15 international destinations.

But the carrier always insisted it would seek to reinstate Brisbane to its network once its restructure was complete - possibly using 787 aircraft - and it returned to profitability, which it has now done.

A spokeswoman for Brisbane Airport confirmed officials were in talks with JAL and said a return of direct services had the backing of the Queensland Government and business leaders.

"We are in discussions with Japan Airlines. We cannot confirm anything at this stage but those discussions are on-going," she told Travel Today. "Demand is still there and there is a groundswell of support both from the Government and business community."

She stressed the airline's withdrawal back in 2010 was never about a lack of demand but part of a wider restructure.

Quoting vhebb (Reply 126):Apparently QantasLink current T2 ops in SYD will be moving to T3...

I hope so! I'm not sure how they will fit them all in though -- space constraints are the reason there are flights at T2 in the first place.

Another thought -- is T3 able to support the growing number of A332s that will be replacing the 767 fleet over the next few years? I've only ever seen the A330s down at the end of the terminal, never along the main strip opposite the maintenance area which seems to be dominated by 767s most of the time. Will we see some more work to respace gates?

Quoting EK413 (Reply 127):More than likely due to the removal of JQ codes from mainline...

That only applies to PER flights. None of the QF flights in T2 are related to JQ in any way.

Quoting Fuling (Reply 132):It's been some months now that QF resumed flights to OOL, and I was wondering how loads are on these flights so far?

There have been some very cheap fares (as low as $99 for travel in February when I had a look a couple of weeks ago -- cheaper than the basic JQ fares that came up in the same search), which is good for me but probably not amazing for QF.

Yes i agree however yesterday arvo and evening at least 30 aircraft performed missed approaches.
I heard on the ATC radio that 4 Virgins could not get into their gates around 10pm last night and on my wife's flight the baggage handlers refused to get the baggage out of the aircraft due to very strong winds.

Winds yesterday and earlier today have been up to 45 knots with crosswinds to 35 knots.Lot's of windshear.

Sydney Airport is presently operating in a mix 07 / 34L departures configuration... I'm not certain if this has a lot to do with the noise sharing agreements or simply due to the heavy rain / weather...?

That's right - only the CBR ops though - and they only have two gates for that. I guess with a huge number of buses they could do it, but it would be pretty messy and there probably isn't enough room to park the aircraft without using bays at T2 anyway.

It has been reported that the QF link pax will board near where the international transfers take place at T3 near where gate 1 is, they will then be bused to where the QF link Aprons will be (vacant apron space opposite hanger 96) Some modifications might be made to tmake the lounge a bit bigger. Although I could not find any information as to whether CBR pax will move from their current position. I guess more will be heard on this once modifications are made.

Quoting aussie747 (Reply 143):It has been reported that the QF link pax will board near where the international transfers take place at T3 near where gate 1 is, they will then be bused to where the QF link Aprons will be (vacant apron space opposite hanger 96) Some modifications might be made to tmake the lounge a bit bigger. Although I could not find any information as to whether CBR pax will move from their current position. I guess more will be heard on this once modifications are made.

I thought this could've been a possibility and certainly a smart move considering the QF Link hangers are not to far from Gate 1 either...
I'm guessing the move is to make room for JQ expansion at T2...?

Quoting aussie747 (Reply 143):
It has been reported that the QF link pax will board near where the international transfers take place at T3 near where gate 1 is, they will then be bused to where the QF link Aprons will be (vacant apron space opposite hanger 96) Some modifications might be made to tmake the lounge a bit bigger.

That lounge would have to increase in size at least five times over! Whenever I've been in T2 most of the gate-lounges for Qlink flights have been chockers, not to mention the Qantas Club – the current T3 Q club is crowded enough without adding all the load from T2 as well. It'll be interesting to see how they work it.

Quoting EK413 (Reply 144):I'm guessing the move is to make room for JQ expansion at T2...?

How does the leasing for T2 work? The eastern pier is obviously all Virgin territory, and at the moment the western side is Qantas' operations plus Tiger, seemingly randomly interspersed. Presumably with the ramp-up in both Tiger and Jetstar's operations, it's becoming less feasible to have Dash 8s park at aerobridge-equipped gates that could have A320s at them. Is it possible also that Virgin wishes to expand into that western pier, squeezing Qlink out?

I could be wrong but I believe the T2 lease will be expiring soon which is probably another reason why QF Link flights are being relocated to T3... At the moment seems though JQ occupy gates 53, 55, 57, & 59... (Correct me if I'm wrong)...

Weather in SYD is getting miserable.
Lots of aircraft having to circle north and south on the way in.
10pm now, lets see if there are diversions due to curfew soon. I can still count around 20 aircraft circling at the moment.

Quoting flylonghaul (Reply 148):Weather in SYD is getting miserable.
Lots of aircraft having to circle north and south on the way in.
10pm now, lets see if there are diversions due to curfew soon. I can still count around 20 aircraft circling at the moment.

With the bad weather, think they will allow the curfew to be extended ?

I could be wrong but I believe the T2 lease will be expiring soon which is probably another reason why QF Link flights are being relocated to T3... At the moment seems though JQ occupy gates 53, 55, 57, & 59...

That makes sense... Though I've seen JQ aircraft at every gate on that pier at various points – even the hardstands at the very end on occasion. Likewise, I've seen most of the western side taken up with Dash 8s, which seems an awful waste.

Quoting flylonghaul (Reply 150):Im not overly familiar with the regulations, but I imagine some flights may be allowed in depending on the individual situation of the individual flight.

I was up at the TCU yesterday – they were saying they can't extend the curfew, they just had to do what they could at about 19 arrivals an hour on the single runway and that they were expecting quite a number of flights to divert as they simply couldn't fit them in before curfew. By about 5pm inbound delays were already up around an hour.

Quoting flylonghaul (Reply 151):And also just saw EK413 depart from RWY07! Thats a long heavy flight to come of that runway.

There were only a few departures I saw that went off 34L - the Virgin Atlantic A340, a Thai 747, Malaysia 747 and United 747. Most other heavies managed to get off 07, including QF5 and QF1.

I've often thought that the space between T3 and T2 would make a good spot for a small regional pier, replacing the existing CBR area in T3 and allowing them to consolidate QFLink into one area. It doesn't need to be anything too fancy so wouldn't be an expensive thing to design/build, and would add a lot of useable gate space to T3.

The only person who can authorise exemptions to the curfew is the NSW Minister for Transport, on a per case basis. These exemptions are only legally allowed in extreme circumstances, and weather doesn't seem to count...

Quoting qf002 (Reply 156):I've often thought that the space between T3 and T2 would make a good spot for a small regional pier, replacing the existing CBR area in T3 and allowing them to consolidate QFLink into one area.

When QF acquired its lease for the T2 gates, Geoff Dixon indicated plans to create an airside link between T2 and T3. 11 years later nothing has happened.

Quoting qf002 (Reply 156):
The only person who can authorise exemptions to the curfew is the NSW Minister for Transport, on a per case basis. ..

I think you might find that it is the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport (The Hon Anthony Albanese MP) is the one to authorise exceptions, whose electorate of Grayndler sits adjacent to the airport.

Quoting Airvan00 (Reply 159):I think you might find that it is the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport (The Hon Anthony Albanese MP) is the one to authorise exceptions, whose electorate of Grayndler sits adjacent to the airport.

Quoting skyhawkmatthew (Reply 162):Quoting EK413 (Reply 161):
a Qantas retro scheme is on the cards to be applied on a B738 (VH-VXB)

Is a new Aboriginal scheme going to appear on a different aircraft to replace Yananyi if VXB's getting the retro treatment?

I could be wrong in saying this but I believe QF are leaning away from Aboriginal schemes in favour of "other" forms of special schemes such as, Optus promotion, the Prostrate foundation, "spirit of Australians", names printed on 2 mainline aircraft & Oneworld... The retro scheme is word of mouth, however considering VH-VXB is due for a heavy maintenance check its the candidate for a retro scheme...

Quoting EK413 (Reply 161):Probably the crew of EK413 opted to add a tech stop on route to refuel...?

Wasn't it EK414? More likely they looked at the weather forecast before they took off in DXB and added the extra fuel to allow time for circling. Unless it's just too long a range flight to justify the extra fuel over the risk of the extra stop?

Quoting EK413 (Reply 161):I am baffled why under such circumstances the airlines aren't given priority clearance to land & depart opposed to inconvenience the passengers...

I don't know what you mean. If they declare an emergency, they have priority. If they don't, they generally have to wait their turn (unless there's some other qualification I am unaware of). Quite a while ago (1990s) there was a proposal to make the airlines only schedule flights at times that they would be able to land at the destination, but the airlines didn't like it as I recall. That would be far more sensible than letting airlines get in line in the air.

Quoting thegeek (Reply 164):Wasn't it EK414? More likely they looked at the weather forecast before they took off in DXB and added the extra fuel to allow time for circling. Unless it's just too long a range flight to justify the extra fuel over the risk of the extra stop?

No I think he does mean EK413 which had to take off on runway 07 which is only 2500m compared with 4km on 34L. It is an awful long flight to DXB ! Lucky it wasn't QF's DFW flight.

Quoting thegeek (Reply 164):Quoting EK413 (Reply 161):
I am baffled why under such circumstances the airlines aren't given priority clearance to land & depart opposed to inconvenience the passengers...

I don't know what you mean. If they declare an emergency, they have priority. If they don't, they generally have to wait their turn (unless there's some other qualification I am unaware of). Quite a while ago (1990s) there was a proposal to make the airlines only schedule flights at times that they would be able to land at the destination, but the airlines didn't like it as I recall. That would be far more sensible than letting airlines get in line in the air.

Just to clarify I was referring to the aircraft which opted to divert due to the weather & curfew...

Quoting vhebb (Reply 179):The aircraft was VH-ZXF it returned to BNE then operated again a few hrs later... Can't have been too serious

Good news that it's not too serious. Apart from the fact that 767 is built like a tank, there is the tail strike protector on the 300 and 400 series of the 767's that provides a lot of protection to the fuselage. You can see it in both of these photos:

Unfortunately the B744s have had the NEW scheme applied unless there are plans to apply a new coat of paint to the remaining B744s (to be retired)...? I saw VHOJE yesterday & let me tell you she's a perfect candidate for a fresh coat of paint...

Quoting mal787 (Reply 182):We have to see it on a 744 as well. It looked great on the 742 so no reason why it wont work

They won't be repainting any of the aircraft due to be retired in the next 12-18 months, and the ERs probably won't be completely stripped and repainted again before they get retired.

I'd like to see an A333 in a retro scheme. And that fleet is well overdue for some new paint.

Quoting AirNiugini (Reply 186):Is there a reason that the wonderful Aboriginal schemes are being removed? I know that the planes are a little heavier, but surely those costs are not that significant...

We don't know what is happening with Yananyi yet -- they might leave the paint during her heavy check or repaint her with the same livery but new kangaroo/titles.

That said, I think it's likely at she'll either get something else or revert to the standard livery. The Aboriginal schemes date back to what was a very different airline back in the 90s. Looking at the branding update in 2008 and things like the new advertising, my guess is that the company is probably keen to move past that image and onto something new. I'm all in favour of a brand new Aboriginal livery being part of that though.

If they are similar to mainland China where all 4 Chinese carriers fly to MEL or about to, then BNE and SYD would be favoured over any new market.Also if they plan to operate to AKL then a route via BNE or SYD will make more sense.

Quoting qf002 (Reply 187): I'm all in favour of a brand new Aboriginal livery being part of that though.

I agree. It would be a shame to see the QF fleet without an Aboriginal livery. I think having at least 2 schemes in the fleet would be fantastic. One representing mainland Aboriginals, and one representing the Torres Strait. This was the case with both Nalanji Dreaming, and Wunala Dreaming in the fleet.

Quoting qf002 (Reply 187): The Aboriginal schemes date back to what was a very different airline back in the 90s. Looking at the branding update in 2008 and things like the new advertising, my guess is that the company is probably keen to move past that image and onto something new.

I actually don't even think Qantas have a clear well defined marketing plan or vision in place. It's a total mess, and what they have created is boring and not relevant!

I agree that it would be more expensive to operate due to the weight, but it being only applied on 2 or 3 planes I thought it would have been negligible overall. Or at least worth it considering it is a great ambassador for QF and Australia.

Quoting ZKOKQ (Reply 192):I am still hoping to see something on an A330.

Quote:Key among the changes in the first phase of improving the Asia network, which will apply from today for travel after 31 March, are:
- Better access to the key Asian hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore, with a dedicated capacity increase of around 10 per cent and 40 per cent respectively on the Qantas network plus extended capacity on the Qantas-Emirates network
- Earlier arrival times into Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore, with flights brought forward by up to three hours to increase the number of onward connections
- A new destination – Kuala Lumpur – available to Qantas customers via the combined Qantas-Emirates network.
The Qantas-Emirates partnership remains subject to government and regulatory approval.
As part of schedule changes made today, Qantas is reducing its Perth-Singapore services to one per day and ceasing its Adelaide-Singapore and Perth-Hong Kong services. However, Qantas will increase its Brisbane-Hong Kong service from four per week to seven and add four additional Sydney-Singapore services per week (increasing to daily from June).

So Frankfurt is ending in April, no more ADL-SIN or PER-HKG while BNE sees an increase in BNE-HKG to daily. They call this "improvements". I call it "pathetic". There had better be more to it than that!

Quoting sydscott (Reply 197):They call this "improvements". I call it "pathetic". There had better be more to it than that!

It was a fairly airy announcement.

- To be rolled out in 4 phases.
- Investigating adding lie flat beds to A330s and other improvements
- Expanded network within Asia through local partners (such as Japan Airlines, China Eastern, Jet Airways, Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines)
- Investigating an increase in destinations to Asia using the Qantas Group’s B787-9 options from 2016, coinciding with the turnaround of Qantas International (direct destinations under consideration include Beijing, Seoul, Mumbai, Delhi and Tokyo-Haneda).

Very sad about the end of Frankfurt flights being brought forward as I'll miss the Qantas 747s to Europe via Asia and had hoped to somehow catch a last flight with them.

Only if you live on the east coast. From PER no HKG at all and one only per day to SIN. CX and SQ will be pleased. At least with the route to SIN the counter-argument is that there will be fewer passengers heading onward to Europe, making more seats available to Asian destinations.

With these changes, who did the maths on the capacity increases they quote (10% to HKG and 40% to SIN)? I strongly doubt any net increase.

Also very sad re FRA culled in April, being a long time Frankfurt (and now Melbourne) resident the big red roo will be missed. Will take QF6 back home next Sunday, for the first and last time now apparently.

Definitely more 744 retirements. Once FRA goes there are 3 there that can be scrapped.

Quoting jsoprano (Reply 202):who did the maths on the capacity increases they quote (10% to HKG and 40% to SIN)? I strongly doubt any net increase.

I think it's "available" capacity for Asia services which is a fancy way of saying "we used to sell lots of connecting seats via Asia but no we won't be selling any and we'll market that as a capacity increase for Asian travel."

This is actually an old QF destination so it's a "resumption via codeshare" not a new destination. The MEL-KUL service arrives in MEL at 2AM and departs MEL at 4AM so it's not exactly highly sought after. If you want QFFF points flying to KUL, you'd be better off using MH now that it's part of Oneworld and operates 1 or 2 times daily from Australian capitals.

Truly bizarre ceasing PER-HKG!!! You can still earn FF points on CX but CX must be wrapped, Likewise SQ will gladly accept the ADL pax heading to Asia.

Quoting allrite (Reply 199):Investigating an increase in destinations to Asia using the Qantas Group’s B787-9 options from 2016

So the new Asian strategy is deferred another 3 years and even that may be optimnistic given the 787-9s in 2016 are no certainty given the current dramas. Surely QF understands that SQ,CX and the Chinese carriers are not going to sit on their hands for 3 years. By 2016, there will be litlle of worth for QF to consider that is not already serviced.